SOG vs. CBR

[ecefaratti]

We are booked at Shades of Green for April 2024, and we were very excited about being able to walk to the Poly for the monorail. We are now thinking of switching to Caribbean Beach because of the skyliner. I’m on the fence because we are a family of 5, and the rooms are so much bigger at SOG. We would also get extended evening hours, but I’m not sure we would use them. Our kids are 12, 9, and 9 so I don’t know how late they would make it. I’m really on the fence because I’ve heard bad things about SOG transportation. Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Dis Dragon]

Just FYI, the path from SOG to Poly has been closed permanently. (5/1/23)

Not sure if a direct reason was given but i'm guessing with the added tower volume they want to eliminate the SOG crowd from using the monorail.

 

[nw6675]

Just FYI, the path from SOG to Poly has been closed permanently. (5/1/23)

Not sure if a direct reason was given but i'm guessing with the added tower volume they want to eliminate the SOG crowd from using the monorail.

The road widening causes it to be unsafe to cross.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

We are booked at Shades of Green for April 2024, and we were very excited about being able to walk to the Poly for the monorail. We are now thinking of switching to Caribbean Beach because of the skyliner. I’m on the fence because we are a family of 5, and the rooms are so much bigger at SOG. We would also get extended evening hours, but I’m not sure we would use them. Our kids are 12, 9, and 9 so I don’t know how late they would make it. I’m really on the fence because I’ve heard bad things about SOG transportation. Any thoughts? Thanks!

I've never stayed at SOG so I can't comment on the transportation or the resort however we have stayed at CBR and were not fans of the skyliner. I think I'd be more inclined to book a skyliner resort for the drier season and not summertime when we last stayed. The everyday thunderstorms do cause the skyliner to go down and the transition from skyliner to get the buses for Ep/DHS is slow. April is shoulder season and not traditionally rainy so you'd probably be fine weather wise.

We managed to catch a lot of storms and sometimes it was an extra 45 min of travel time. Add that to the 8 bus stops at CBR and large resort size, it just got to be a hassle for us. If you do stay at CBR and don't want to pay for a preferred room, there are 5th sleeper rooms in Jamaica or Aruba that are convenient to the skyliner, the bus stop and a short walk across the bridge to the lobby/pool. Also, fyi, I have no idea the condition of the rooms at SOG but the CBR rooms are not the newest/freshest outside of the old Pirate section which have been recently redone.

 

[lpereira]

So you like schlepping up stairs at the end of your day to get to your room? Overflowing g busses? If so then CBR is for you.
Stay at SoG; shuttles to TTC are frequent and those ages are perfect for evening hours. Plan a sleep in morning the next day.

 

[brockash]

We are booked at Shades of Green for April 2024, and we were very excited about being able to walk to the Poly for the monorail. We are now thinking of switching to Caribbean Beach because of the skyliner. I’m on the fence because we are a family of 5, and the rooms are so much bigger at SOG. We would also get extended evening hours, but I’m not sure we would use them. Our kids are 12, 9, and 9 so I don’t know how late they would make it. I’m really on the fence because I’ve heard bad things about SOG transportation. Any thoughts? Thanks!

We stayed at Shades once a lil over a year ago. The rooms are large which is great. The walk to Poly was nice too, but also kinda just made me bummed I wasn't staying there lol. The bus transportation at Shades we found really annoying. Just all of it and the going to AK and DHS on the same bus...talk about a long trip. We also really found having to.dig out your id and your lil room key/paper thing every time you wanted to get on the bus was waayyyy overkill and cumbersome. The pool was nice, but for us I think it was a once and done. It is definitely lacking the bubble feel.

We stayed at CBR twice and it is certainly nowhere near my favorite (too large for us) I'd take it over Shades. I do totally agree with the poster about skyliner resort in the rainy months, but you should be ok in April and it is convenient (when it's not down due to storms).

 

[Ladyfish77]

While we have loved being able to walk to the Poly from Shades of Green and will miss it, I think SoG is still less expensive and bigger rooms than CBR (and we pay highest tier pricing). Also, while people complain about the busses, there is a lot of good things to say about the busses. I like that they run on a schedule, so you can plan when to get to bus (especially after leaving a park or DS). The trip from SoG to the TTC is short so the bus does go there very frequently. If you want to visit the Poly, you can take the bus to the TTC and walk or ride monorail to Poly. This will also allow you to use the TTC as your point to grab disney transportation to wherever else you'd like to go if you think it will be faster than SoG bus.

 

[spot28]

We are booked at Shades of Green for April 2024, and we were very excited about being able to walk to the Poly for the monorail. We are now thinking of switching to Caribbean Beach because of the skyliner. I’m on the fence because we are a family of 5, and the rooms are so much bigger at SOG. We would also get extended evening hours, but I’m not sure we would use them. Our kids are 12, 9, and 9 so I don’t know how late they would make it. I’m really on the fence because I’ve heard bad things about SOG transportation. Any thoughts? Thanks!

We just stayed at Poly and can confirm the walkway to SOG is closed. Security at guard station will not permit foot traffic. I've stayed at both CBR and SOG, I would say for your kiddos the Skyliner at CBR will be a HUGE draw and one they will thoroughly enjoy as part of the stay. For that I would probably lean to CBR.

 

[NavyDad]

We are booked at Shades of Green for April 2024, and we were very excited about being able to walk to the Poly for the monorail. We are now thinking of switching to Caribbean Beach because of the skyliner. I’m on the fence because we are a family of 5, and the rooms are so much bigger at SOG. We would also get extended evening hours, but I’m not sure we would use them. Our kids are 12, 9, and 9 so I don’t know how late they would make it. I’m really on the fence because I’ve heard bad things about SOG transportation. Any thoughts? Thanks!

I'm not sure if you have come to a resolution yet but I thought I would chime in.

We have made a lot of trips to WDW as a family of 5 over the years and the extra space in the rooms at SOG is fantastic. There are very few rooms on all of WDW property that are truly meant for a family of 5. Even our Beach Club room was very cramped with 5 of us in it. The rooms at Shades just give you that extra space that almost feels like a room and a half. It's great.

We have only stated at Shades 1 time so far. The walk over to the Poly was cool and we did it 2-3 times the first couple of days. After that point it just felt like a lot of extra walking as we got more tired from walking around the parks each day. The bus over to the TTC is fantastic because it let's you off very close to the monorail entrance. The difference there is that they have both the Epcot and MK loop there so it's very convenient to go anywhere after a short bus trip. Generally at most parks, we found that the Shades of Green bus actually dropped us off closer than most of the WDW transportation.

Unlike the Disney buses the SOG busses generally have the same drivers each day. We got to know the drivers and they gave us useful tips and we felt like they took care of us. When we were at SOG last year during Spring Break we really expected the worst regarding buses due to some comments on here but honestly we had a much better experience with the SOG busses than we ever had with the busses at WDW resorts.

Regarding the Skyliner: we have ridden it a few times getting around the Epcot-DHS areas. It's pretty cool and a nice perk to have at those resorts. At one of the stations we did see some guests who were super angry at one of the stations because they had to get out of their car and transfer over to another car at that station and wait in line again. My wife would probably prefer we never take the skyliner again because it makes her feel uncomfortable. I think for some the Skyliner will be very convenient and others not so much.

I have stayed at every level of Disney resort and I highly recommend Shades of Green if you are eligible.